She Didn't Have Time
by PGGF
Summary: AU Literati. Rory believes she doesn't have time for love, but can Jess change her mind? Based on Terri Clark's song of the same name.


Author: PGGF

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Summary: AU Literati. The idea came from the Terri Clark song, "She Didn't Have Time." Rory believes she doesn't have time for love, but can Jess change her mind? This is very AU meaning Rory never went to Yale and Jess actually had a very happy childhood with a great family.

AN: I had this finished early this morning, but when I was rereading it I started adding other things and the next thing I knew the story went a completely different direction than intended. I've worked on it all day and would appreciate it if you review it. Enjoy!

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"Adam, please don't go." She begged.

"Rory, I have to. You're better off without me."

'Funny, that's exactly what Lorelai had told her from the beginning.'

"But you're needed here."

"No, I'm not. You'll be fine. I'll see ya around sometime, ok?"

And with that, he walked right over to his car, got in, and drove off.

'He didn't even look back,' she thought.

Just as she was ready to sink down to the ground and let herself go as her heart was begging her to, a sharp cry sounded from inside the house. She rushed in and down the hall to the back bedroom. There, nestled in the crib, was her and Adam's 2 month old daughter, Leighanne. She picked up the screaming baby and walked over to the rocking chair to feed her. She couldn't help but think of all she had to do that day, and how now she had to do them on her own. All she really wanted to do was curl up in her bed and cry, but she didn't have time.

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A few weeks later she ended up moving back home near Lorelai and taking up random jobs to help support her and Leighanne. Her days were a mix of waiting tables at Luke's, checking out groceries at Doose's, and organizing and shelving books at Stars Hollow Bookstore. At nights she spent all her time with Leighanne until she had to put her to bed. After Leighanne was in bed she would clean the house and make her list of errands to do for the next day. She would eventually pass out from exhaustion only to be woken up by a hungry or wet Leighanne a few hours later. She was constantly exhausted, but she had to do it. It was all for Leighanne. She didn't have time for anyone else.

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"Wow, honey. No offense, but you look rough."

"Thanks, mom." Rory said chuckling a bit.

"Why don't you leave Leighanne for the night and call up some of your friends and go out. Have some fun for once, sweetie."

"No, I can't. I have to take her to Ms. Patty's for her ballet lesson and she talked Morey into teaching her to play the piano and she has a T-ball game tomorrow afternoon that I'm not going to miss. I don't have time to go out now."

"Honey, I know it's rough playing both the mom and dad, but you have to let yourself out sometime. Do you even remember the last time you hung out with Lane other than when you're dropping off or picking up Leighanne? Or watched a movie that had a rating higher than G? I've told you for years that I'm here and I'll help out however I can. Leighanne is older now and she's so smart for her age. She knows better than to expect you to be at every dance and piano lesson, or at every game. Trust me, if you miss one she won't mind. You need to have fun every now and then, babe. Maybe accept one of the many offers from the guys that keep asking you out."

Rory sucked in her breath at the last part.

"I know that Adam was a jerk, but not all guys are like Adam."

"I know. I know. But I'm scared to put myself out there again. I'm scared to trust someone again and just wind up hurt. I don't think I could deal with it again. I have you, I have Leighanne, I have the town. I don't need anyone else."

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"You have got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed as she walked up to her car. She had been rushing around all day running errands in Hartford and now she had a flat tire.

"Why today of all days? I have places to be, dammit!" She yelled as she kicked her flat tire.

"Um, excuse me."

Rory almost fell over in her haste to turn around and see who the voice behind her belonged to.

"Hi."

"Hi. So I couldn't help but notice that you were having a little car trouble. Need some help?"

"Um...yeah. Yes, please."

"I'm Jess by the way," he said offering her his hand.

"Rory," she replied as she shook his hand. She pulled away almost immediately at the electric charge that went all through her at the brief contact.

"Do you have a spare?" He asked smiling at her, obviously feeling the same charge.

"In the trunk."

She nervously edged around him to open up her trunk and move the flap up, exposing the spare tire.

"Great, you have a jack too. I'll get this changed for you and then you can follow me to the garage that's right up the road. My friend and I own it and I can get you right in to replace the tire."

"Thanks. Thank you so much. I really appreciate this."

"Not a problem," he said giving her a crooked smile.

She couldn't help but stare at his well defined arms as he changed out her tire. She suddenly felt flush all over and quickly directed her attention elsewhere so as to not embarrass herself any further.

"There you go," he said standing up and putting the flattened tire and jack in her trunk. "My car is parked just a few down from yours. Just follow me out of here and I'll call Matt and let him know we're on our way."

"Sounds great."

She called Lane and let her know that she was having car problems and would be home to pick up Leighanne as soon as possible.

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"Ok Rory, you're all set to go," Jess said as he came from the back of the garage and handed her keys.

"Thanks again for this. I really do appreciate it. How much do I owe you for the tire?"

"Nothing," he replied with a simple shoulder shrug.

"I have to owe you something. You put a new tire on my car. I owe you for the tire and the labor. Plus what did in the parking lot and..."

"There is no way I could ever live with myself if I charged a damsel in distress for something that took less than 10 minutes to do."

"Well, can I at least buy you lunch or a coffee?" She couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. She couldn't explain the intense attraction to this man she'd only just met.

"Coffee sounds great," he said with a smile.

"Ok. Should we go separately or do you want to drive over together?" Rory was beyond flustered.

"Doesn't matter."

"You just want to ride with me then?"

"Sure."

"Ok. Let's go."

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When they reached the coffee shop Jess moved ahead of Rory to open the door for her, placing his hand on the small of her back to guide her through. When Rory felt his light touch her knees almost buckled. She couldn't believe the feelings this guy invoked in her.

After placing their orders they settled down at a nearby table and Rory hesitantly started the conversation.

"So you said you own that garage with your friend, are you from Hartford originally?"

"No, I'm actually from New York. I moved to Hartford about a year after I graduated high school. My dad's brother owns a couple of garages around here and he knew I wanted to work on cars for a living so he offered me a job and a place to crash. I worked with him for about 4 years and that's how I met Matt. We decided in that last year we wanted to open up our own garage and here we are."

Rory couldn't help but notice that Jess was gorgeous man, especially the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his work. He obviously loved cars.

"That's great. I always wanted to open up my own bookstore, but I've never had the chance."

"Ah, so you're a big reader?"

"I love to read. It's one of my favorite things in the world to do."

Jess was becoming more and more intrigued by Rory. He thought she was beautiful and found her shyness to be quite endearing, but he couldn't help but wonder what had happened in her life to make her big blue eyes tinged with pain.

"I'm an avid reader myself. That's about all I do. I read and I work on cars. I'm pretty boring," he laughed.

"No you're not. I think you're one of the most interesting people I've ever met," she immediately replied. After realizing that she sounded like a gushing school girl she tried to hide her blush behind her coffee and prayed he would change the subject.

"Thanks. I think you're pretty interesting too."

Her blush intensified at his comment and could only mumble a meek thanks.

"So do you have any kids?" He asked trying to start the conversation back again.

Rory nodded. "She's five."

"I saw the car seat. I love kids."

Rory couldn't believe it. Not only was he gorgeous, successful, and intelligent but he also loved kids.

"Do you have any of your own?"

"No. None of my own yet, but I've got nieces and nephews that I love to spend time with. My brothers and sisters yell at me because apparently I spoil them."

With the glint in his eye and the chuckle he gave Rory could only imagine how great of an uncle he was. She suspected he was single because he was out with her, but she wanted to make sure.

"So are you seeing anyone?" She shyly asked.

"Nope. Up until today no one's caught my interest."

"Oh." She didn't really know what else to say to that.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Well, sort of the same." 'Where did that come from?' she asked herself.

"Good to know."

She smiled shyly at him and then noticing the time realized that she had to get back to Stars Hollow.

"I hate to do this, but I have to go. My daughter has a T-ball in an hour and I really don't want to miss it."

"Ok. Well, I had a nice time and maybe we could do this again sometime."

"Sure. I'd really like that."

"Can I get your number?"

After she told him her number and got his, she had an idea and she hoped he'd agree to it.

"If you want, you can come. My mom is on a business trip and it would be nice to have someone to talk to and help me cheer on Leighanne. I mean you don't have to or anything but I just thought..."

"I'd love to," he cut her off. "If you want to take me back to the garage to get my car I'll follow you so you don't have to drive me back later."

"Ok."

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When they reached Stars Hollow they first stopped at Rory and Leighanne's house to drop off Jess' car and continued on to Lane's in Rory's. When they arrived at Lane's to pick Leighanne up, the girls were sitting outside on Lane's front porch. Leighanne was dressed in her blue "Blue Jays" t-shirt, denim shorts, and cleats with her glove and hat resting next to her and completely focused on the book in her lap. Lane was sitting on the step above her pulling her hair back into a ponytail.

Lane glanced up at Jess and shot an approving glance to Rory. Rory just shook her head, laughing to herself and introduced him.

"Lane, Leighanne this is Jess. He's going to come watch your game with us, ok sweetie?"

"Hi, Jess." She seemed more interested in her book than Jess which made him chuckle.

"Hi, Jess. I take it you were the one who helped Rory out with her car today. It's nice to meet you," Lane said while holding out her hand for him to shake.

"Yes, I had the distinct pleasure of stumbling upon Rory kicking and yelling at her flat tire and decided to step in and save the car and her foot," he laughed. "It's nice to meet you too."

He then squatted down until he was eye level with Leighanne and said, "It's nice to meet you too, Leighanne."

She looked up at him then and he was struck by how much she looked like a tiny version of Rory. She had the same brown hair, big blue eyes, tiny nose, and dusting of freckles across her cheeks. But where Rory was shy and hesitant, Leighanne seemed the total opposite. She stuck her hand right out for him to take and looking straight into his eyes said, "Did you know that you're not allowed to steal bases in T-ball? That's not fair is it?"

Everyone laughed and she huffed a bit, placing her hands on her hips and said, "Well, it's not. I can run faster than some of the other kids can throw and it's not fair to make me stop at every base."

"You like sports, huh?" Jess asked with a smile.

"Uh-huh. I play T-ball because I'm not old enough for baseball yet. I like basketball and football too. I dance too."

"Really?"

"I do. I dance ballet. _And _I can play piano," Leighanne told Jess while smiling broadly at him.

"That's great. I run funny so I don't play sports, I couldn't dance if my life depended on it, but I play guitar and drums."

"Really!?" She squeaked. "My Nana bought me drums for my birthday, but since Zack put a baby in Lane's belly she's too big to teach me. Can you?"

"Hey!" Lane shouted.

"Sure, if your mom and Lane don't mind, I'd love to teach you." Jess said laughing.

"It's fine with me," Rory said. She couldn't believe how well Jess and Leighanne were getting along.

"It's fine with me too," Lane said grinning. It was obvious that Jess really liked Rory and Leighanne and she was happy for her best friend.

"Are you sure you have enough time to learn though? You must be pretty busy with sports, dancing, and piano." Jess teased.

"I'll make time!" Leighanne said laughing.

"Well, I'll just work around your schedule then."

"Can you start after my game?" She asked.

Jess laughed at her determination and said, "What about tomorrow? I can take the afternoon off, drive here, and we can start on our lessons."

"Great."

"Ok. Leighanne, now that that's settled can you get your hat and glove? We have to go soon." Rory said.

Lane picked up the hat and placed it on Leighanne's head, pulling her ponytail through the back. "And you know I'd teach you if Zack would let me away from the house."

"I know," Leighanne said giving Lane a hug. "Thanks for watching me."

"Your welcome, sweetie. Have a good game ok?"

"I will. Let's go Mom. Let's go Jess," Leighanne said grabbing Jess' hand and pulling him to the car.

Rory trailed after them laughing and shaking her head and Leighanne. She was a talkative and outgoing child, but usually it took her awhile to warm up to new people. She really seemed to like Jess and that made Rory's heart soar.

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"Did you see how far I hit the ball? It should have been a home run. I can't wait until I can play baseball," Leighanne said as she made her way over to Rory and Jess after the game.

"I agree. You hit that ball further than anybody else. It's just not fair they only let you go to first base," Jess told her laughing.

"Thank you. See, Mom, Jess thinks the rules aren't fair either."

Rory just laughed and said, "Well, baby, I'm sorry. You can hit all the home runs and steal all the bases you want when you're old enough to play baseball. I promise. But at least your team won. That's something to be happy about."

"Yeah, I guess."

"And it's still pretty early so if you want you can go play on the playground."

"Yeah."

Jess looked down at Leighanne and said, "Would ice cream make you happy? Because I'd love to buy some for you and your mom."

"In a cone?" Leighanne asked hopefully.

"Is there any other way to eat ice cream?" Jess asked, feigning shock.

"Some people put it in bowls. Can you believe that?" Leighanne asked.

Jess couldn't hold back his laughter at her tone and said, "Well, you don't have to worry about that with me. I only eat my ice cream in a cone. What about you, Rory? Do you want an ice cream cone?"

"I'd love one."

"Let's go then."

After they'd gotten their ice cream cones they took Leighanne to the playground as promised. While Leighanne headed straight for the swings, Rory and Jess sat at the nearby picnic tables. As they were eating their ice cream cones and watching Leighanne, Jess looked over at Rory and said, "You have an amazing daughter. You've done a great job raising her."

"Thanks. It's been tough, but I have my mom, and Lane. And there's a lot of other people in the town that help out. I don't think I could have done it without them."

"Where's her dad?"

Jess couldn't believe he had blurted that out. He felt terrible as Rory's eyes dropped to the top of the picnic table.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. That was out of line."

"No, it's okay. He left when Leighanne was a baby. Just woke up one morning and said he was going."

"I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"Well, at least he left before Leighanne got attached."

"True. It's his loss though. You are an amazing woman and Leighanne is a great girl."

"Thanks," she said blushing.

"You're welcome."

They finished their ice cream cones and headed over towards Leighanne, who was still on the swings.

"Push me, Jess! Push me!"

"Honey, that's not nice. Maybe Jess doesn't want to push you right now."

"No, it's fine. I don't mind. In fact, why don't you sit too? I'll push you both."

"Yeah, Mom. Swing next to me and Jess will push us both."

Rory sat down on the swing next to Leighanne and had to remember to breathe every time Jess' hand grazed her back.

"Higher, Jess! Make me go higher!" Leighanne shouted and then shrieked with delight as Jess did just that.

The combined laughter of her daughter and the amazing man she'd just met today made her happier than she had been in a long time.

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When they made it back to the house Leighanne had taken her hat off and completely passed out in the backseat so Jess unbuckled her and carried her while Rory unlocked the front door.

"Where should I put her?" Jess asked.

"Her bedroom is right down the hall," Rory said leading the way.

Jess placed her on the bed and pulled the blanket up around her.

"Goodnight, Leighanne," he whispered.

"'Night, Jess. See you tomorrow," she mumbled as she snuggled further into her pillow.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Rory whispered placing a kiss on her forehead.

"'Night, Mom."

Rory turned on Leighanne's night light and closed her door on her way out.

"I should probably get going. It's getting kind of late and I've got to get some sleep if I'm going to be giving drumming lessons tomorrow."

"I'll walk you out."

As they reached Jess' car, he turned to her and said, "I had a lot of fun today."

"Me too."

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be here all day."

"Ok then," he said as he opened his car door. All of a sudden he closed the door and turned back to Rory. He leaned down until he could feel her breath on his face and their eyes drifted shut. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and pulled back.

"I'll call when I'm on my way tomorrow. Maybe we can get some lunch before the drumming lesson."

"Yeah. Sure." Rory could barely speak after Jess had kissed her. She wanted more, but she knew she wasn't exactly ready for more. She also knew that Jess knew that and that was why he didn't try to kiss her more. He just smirked at her, got in his car and drove away.

As she was walking back to the house she was glad that she had actually made some time for herself. She thought it was definitely time for her to try to love again and who better to try with than Jess? He was extremely handsome, she really enjoyed spending time with him and already was so great with Leighanne. She marveled over the instant connection that she felt with Jess, and that Leighanne had felt it too, as she was getting into bed.

The connection between Jess and Leighanne was something that she would marvel over the next day when Jess showed up and took her and Leighanne out for lunch and began teaching Leighanne to play drums and stayed for a movie night. And when she watched Jess dancing with Leighanne standing barefoot on his feet at their wedding the next year. Even when her and Jess had kids of their own, him and Leighanne kept their strong connection. And only Rory knew about the tears that Jess let run down his face after moving Leighanne into her dorm when she started college. However, everyone saw the tears that Jess let out when he walked Leighanne down the aisle and gave her away. And everyone shed tears of their own as they watched Jess and Leighanne dancing the traditional father-daughter dance with Leighanne standing barefoot on Jess' feet. As Rory was wiping at the tears on her face she was so thankful again that she allowed herself the time to love again and she was eternally thankful for all the time she had, and still has, with Jess and their family.

The End.


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